TASKS OF THE CONTINGENT LIBRARIAN

1. ACQUIRING TEXTS

why do we need texts? what is their function?
technology of language and its evolution through orality > literacy
preservation of memory - language inscribed in code
social - the recollection of this memory forms narratives that constitutes subjectivity
ways of reading: browsing vs searching, skimming vs scanning
access to texts (or lack thereof) - where do they come from?
copyright law and authorship - Eva Weinmayr’s <a href="https://books.openedition.org/obp/8338" title="Confronting Authorship, Constructing Practices (How Copyright is Destroying Collective Practice)">essay</a>
technical methods of digitising printed texts
scanning, processing text
personal experience of using libraries?

aspects of classification
social, linguistic, semiotic, political
collections of texts
professional, amateur, critical librarianship practices and how they relate to these aspects
what connects the books and the readers
how does locality relate to the collection?
proximity
in the infrastructure of the library (the catalogue, the shelves, the folders, the interface)

conversion between formats for diverse reading needs
knowledge distribution methods and networks (distinction between digital and analog methods is blurry as they are often combined)
social
distribution of objects arranged through a <a href="https://displaydistribute.com/" title="Display Distribute">social network:</a>
governmental
copyright law and its restrictions on distribution of knowledge
municipal jurisdiction
public libraries, social initatives (e.g. Leeszaal)
pirate libraries
bootlegging, samizdat, warez, zine culture, unofficial/uncatalogued publications
locality
making it public vs making it private - the survival of the library
pirate vs commercial models - what’s at stake?

Why?
the sociability of libraries
bootlegging and unofficial publishing practices
the symbolic (Lacan’s example of a door and its uses outside of binary open/closed)